Forest fires in the Russian Far East = Large fires were burning in the forests of Siberia between the Amur River (known as Heilong Jiang in China) and the Bureya River on May 24, 2009, Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are marked Dark brownish-purple patches on the landscape are burn scars from previous fires. In the eastern part of the image may be from these fires as well as fires farther west, south of Lake Baikal. Both accidental and natural forest fires are common in spring and summer in Russia. (Photo by NASA/AFLO) [3133].